Units
Unit abilities A unit may consist of up to 9 individuals. *Skirmish formation: units run to enemy, shouting battle cries when attacking. This is the usual default setting. *Phalanx: units form up in line, very slow but gains a melee armour bonus, but takes more damage from arrow fire *Square: Any infantry units can form square formations, but some units and factions are better at it than anyone else: as long as they are spear/polearm infantry, units in square formation have 50% movement speed reduction, and take 20% more melee damage but receive 30% less damage from arrows - anyone else gets a 60% speed reduction, receives only 10% reduction from arrow damage and receives 40% added melee damage. Square formations do not need to be researched. Researching Rank and File replaces Squares with Testudo for all sword infantry. Skirmish, Phalanx and Square are all accessible from the beginning; other abilities such as Testudo and Charge must be researched. *Volley: archer and naval archer unit lowers rate of fire, but has a decidedly more destructive attack. *Wedge formation: melee units form up in wedge formation (1 at the front, followed by 3, then 5). Although more vulnerable against cavalry, melee units in this formation deal added damage to enemy infantry in line formation. *Charge: for a brief period of time, cavalry units that use charge will deal 25% more damage to light infantry, and will also have added speed. Cavalry perform poorly against units in phalanx mode, but perform well especially against units in wedge formation *Testudo: only applicable to unique sword infantry: units will go into testudo, and receive a 50% movement speed reduction, and take 20% more melee damage but receive 30% less damage from arrows - units in testudo can destroy buildings without taking a single scratch, but these bonuses apply only to unique sword units of Romans and other factions, including Gaul, Numidia and possibly German Confederacy - anyone else gets a 60% speed reduction, receives only 10% reduction from arrow damage and receives 40% added melee damage. *Veteran abilities: with sufficient experience, units will become more resistant to attrition, and will take only 33% of the time required to activate their abilities and also experience 50% lower cooldown times Units with less than 30% health remaining may not use these abilities; any units damaged to such an extent while using these abilities will immediately break into skirmish formation. As usual, once units engage these abilities, they will take some time before the abilities activate, and trigger a cooldown rate before they can re-use this ability. Buildings *[[Drill camp]] - trains spears, swords, light melee cavalry, and scout *[[Proving grounds]] - trains slingers, archers, javelin men, and in some cases, a unique cavalry unit - elephant archers or chariot archers, and then horse archers *[[Siege worship]] - builds your usual siege machines *[[Dock]] - builds ships *[[Fortress]] - generals, spies, and heavy cavalry *[[Villa]], longhouse, satrapy, or magistrate - powerful unique units Drill camp units Spearmen (militia) *Barb spears **Germanic spear warriors => ? *Gallic spears **Gallic spears => Gallic spear militia => *Asian spears **Conscript spears => Satrap's guards *European spears **Levy spears => spear militia => Citizen spearmen *Egyptian spears **Desert spearmen => Desert spear militia => Swordsmen *Barb spears *Gallic spears *Asian spears *European spears *Egyptian spears Pikemen *Barb spears *Gallic spears *Asian spears *European spears **Hoplite => Armoured Hoplite => Hastati => Heavy hastati NOTE: Solar worship grants access to schock infantry. Hunters' lodge Archers *Huntsmen => Archers *Asian peasant bowmen => Asian archers *Toxotes => Citizen Toxotes => Heavy archers => Gastraphetes crossbow *Egyptian peasant bowmen => Egyptian archers Javelineers *Barbarian javelineers *Asian javelineers *Peltasts *Egyptian peltasts Slingers (militia) *Barb spears *Gallic spears *Asian spears *European spears *Egyptian spears Villa/Longhouse Powerful shock units. Usually these units are historically connected. A villa spawns a free general each time you build one, and you may only build them in cities. Factions which get the villa *Mediterranean cultures: Romans; Macedonians; Ptolemaic Empire; Etruscans; Seleucids; Pontus *Eastern cultures: Parthians; Armenians; Tocharians *Desert cultures: Sabeans, Carthaginians *Barbarian tribes: All *Nomadic cultures: All Generic Classical Villa units *Chariots, Scythe Chariots (nasty weapon allowed only for Seleucia, Tocharians, and Sabeans) Roman Villa units *Roman: Equites; Principes medium infantry; Triarii spearmen Villa units Longhouse units=